Abode announces iota security camera with HomeKit support

Abode Systems has announced the upcoming release of the iota, a new all-in-one security camera that is designed to integrate with many other smart home products, including Apple’s HomeKit.

This 1080p camera builds in a gateway to support a plethora of home automation networking options. Baked in is Z-Wave, ZigBee, and abode RF which pretty much encompasses hundreds of other smart home devices. The big ones like Phiips Hue, LIFX, ecobee, and Nest are all supported natively in the iota app.

HomeKit comparability lets you connect to any HomeKit connected devices as well. If you prefer Alexa or Google Assistant, support for those two is also there.

To view the live stream of your camera, you can do so through Apple’s Home app, or Abode’s app. Like many other smart home security cameras, saving footage past a certain time, in this case three days, requires a paid subscription.

However, if an alarm is triggered, the clips are automatically uploaded to the timeline regardless if you are a paying subscriber.

Similar to Canary’s approach, plans are also available on-demand, with no contract. You can purchase them in three day, seven day, monthly, and yearly intervals. The benefit here is you can always pay for a subscription when you go on a vacation, and otherwise wouldn’t necessarily utilize as much.

The iota is one of only a handful of HomeKit capable cameras, joining the D-Link Omna and the Logitech Circle 2.

The iota will be available in the first quarter of 2018 for $329. If you are already an Abode customer, you will have an option to upgrade to the new iota gateway.

Keep up-to-date with iDownloadBlog’s latest CES 2018 coverage.